What I remember from a local train show yesterday was the fleam. I hadn’t seen once since running the Ozark Agriculture Museum. It’s a simple device. They were used to induce bleeding in belief bad blood could be eliminated and health restored. The procedure almost cost the life of our first President. Luckily medicine has …
Trouble sleeping. After sunset I walk in the woods where stars sparkle above soaring oak and hickories. What’s that noise? An armadillo, bear or ghost? I’m nervous in the dark with just a tiny flashlight. The state has recently opened a season on our Black Bear, the first ever. Forty be “harvested,” as they call …
What a huge tent! Maybe this can be repurposed for an Old Time revival? A Trump rally? Or peddling fireworks? Maybe a wedding at the country club? “Beyond Van Gogh” may be a new style, high tech exhibit. Is this show totally sappy? Or totally a great trip? Certainly a marketing event par excellence! …
This day of remembrance recalls twelve years ago when the Ozarks suffered a derecho. This squally system with dozens of tornadoes toppled millions of trees, smashed property, totaled our car and destroyed our solar collectors but thankfully took just one human life. In my forthcoming Ozark Voices: Oral Histories from the Heartland I write about …
A freak blizzard early this week has meant snowmen coexisting with redbud trees in full bloom. The cold front probably nipped Ozark fruit and spring soirees. This photo is a neighbors house, with red buds to the rear. An inch of snow set back Cathy and my travel plans. Fun to be pissed off at …
Has anyone else wept for the blooming jonquils or the ten people shot in Colorado a few days ago? They take my breath away as I drive into Arkansas: random patches of blooms out in pastures where once a family homesteaded. Or the eight killed in Georgia last week? Someone planted these lovely yellow flowers …
Did some hiking in Shannon County to escape bad news. Seeing the January 6 scenes of destruction of our Capitol in Washington caused eerie deja vu. Fifty years ago I was part of a group of 1,000+ Vietnam veterans who “invaded the country of Congress,” as we described our operation to protest an ongoing war. …
Midsummer heat slows me while cruising back home. A man hunched over his backpack along busy U.S. 60 stops me cold. Usually hell-bent for our house after hanging out at the cabin, I have mixed feelings returning to the city. I go slow and mull over the mechanics of selling our house in town and …
Driving from our cabin on the Jacks Fork a few days ago, March 17, I felt I was back in Rockies. South of US60 the horizon near Blue Buck Mountain seemed engulfed in huge forest fires. We had been west several years ago and saw monster clouds near Los Alamos from blazes that killed a …
The last few days I’ve been finishing a book review for the oral history journal, a collection of essays History, Memory and Public Life, Routledge 2018. Potentially tedious because it’s somewhat dry scholarly stuff. Most deal with monuments from the past, which can be fascinating and surprisingly complex. We have a Confederate general heroically memorialized in …
I saw a great documentary recently about a young guy who climbs giant rock formations without ropes. Why would anyone take such risks? Having done a fair amount of rock climbing in Colorado during college, I watched ‘Free Solo’ with sweaty palms while hanging onto my seat and Cathy closely. The film of Alex Honnold’s …
Abortion is one of the most contentious issues in contemporary campaigns. Here’s my feelings from August ’18 door knocking, a demanding activity that can dramatically help candidates. Yesterday afternoon I had an unexpected conflicted moment. No one was hurt, not even any feelings. But I can’t sleep this muggy Missouri late summer morning. I try to …
